Dittography
The name given to a clerical error frequently found in MSS. It consists in writing twice
what should properly be written only once. Thus in the best MS. (
Σ) of the
Fals. Leg. of Demosthenes, we find
Ἀριστοφῶν καὶ ὁ Ἀριστόδημος for
Κτήσιφων καὶ ὁ
Ἀριστόδημος. One of the scholiasts on Horace
Carm. i. 27 Carm., 19 doubles two
syllables, writing
laboraborabas for
laborabas. A
very extraordinary instance is found in the Codex Puteolanus of Livy , which in xxvii. 11
Livy, 11, has
dedissent et ius liberum eosdem dedissent et
ius liberum eosdem dedissent et ius liberum eosdem dedissent—a proof of how
mechanically the scribes performed their work. See
Textual Criticism.